Finsbury Park and Trafalgar Square were deluged with more than 1,000 Algeria supporters after their national football team won the Africa Cup of Nations on Friday night
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‘That was a bit of a shame, eh’: Kiwis endure understated agony of World Cup defeat
New Zealand cricket fans suffered through the night as their team fell excruciatingly short of victory at Lord’s
They emerged tired and emotional in the predawn light. They shuffled from living room couches or from the New Zealand bars lucky enough to organise short-notice liquor licences. Then, they went back to their Monday mornings.
No teacher or manager in the whole country would be naive enough to believe them if they said they had come down with the flu. They would have to wear their decision to stay up all night and watch the most thrilling cricket World Cup final ever played.
Continue reading...England win Cricket World Cup after super-over drama against New Zealand
• New Zealand 241-8; England 241 all out
• England win super over to claim World Cup for first time
• Latest reaction to England winning the World Cup
• England win super over to claim World Cup for first time
• Latest reaction to England winning the World Cup
This was the most astonishing, fortuitous, preposterous climax to any cricket match I’ve witnessed, let alone a World Cup final. Only the Kiwis could have coped so graciously with the manner of their defeat in the most riveting final this tournament has ever witnessed. At the end of it England emerged as World Cup winners for the first time. It is hard to believe how they managed it. We had better start at the end.
The game had been gripping throughout. But in the final over it had more twists and turns than a Hitchcock thriller. England needed 15 runs to win from the last over, which was bowled by Trent Boult. Ben Stokes was on strike with two wickets remaining.
Continue reading...Chess grandmaster admits to cheating with phone on toilet during tournament
- Igors Rausis, 58, caught cheating during Strasbourg Open
- Grandmaster says he’s retired after confessing in statement
The International Chess Federation says it has suspended a player at a tournament in France after the man was “caught red-handed using his phone during a game”.
The organization said Friday on Twitter that all the evidence in the case of Igors Rausis had been sent to its ethics committee and that it was “determined to fight cheating in chess”.
Continue reading...Simona Halep stuns Serena Williams to win first Wimbledon title
• Romanian storms to 6-2, 6-2 victory on Centre Court
• Game-by-game report: how all of the action unfolded
• Game-by-game report: how all of the action unfolded
Simona Halep played a near-flawless final on Saturday to become the first Romanian woman to win Wimbledon, simultaneously wrecking Serena Williams’s bid for a record-equalling 24th major, a dream that grows more unlikely by the day.
The 37-year-old American – still one short of Margaret Court’s all-time tally – smiled graciously at the end but will have been crying inside, while Halep beamed like a lighthouse in celebration of a 6-2, 6-2 drubbing in only 56 minutes of perhaps the game’s greatest player.
Continue reading...England thrash Australia to reach Cricket World Cup final
• England hammer Australia by eight wickets
• Australia reduced to 14-3 at one point as England dominate
• Latest reaction as England go into Cricket World Cup final
• Australia reduced to 14-3 at one point as England dominate
• Latest reaction as England go into Cricket World Cup final
England have beaten Australia by eight wickets to go into the Cricket World Cup final where they will play New Zealand on Sunday at Lord’s.
The defending champions had teetered to 14 for three after deciding to bat first, with England exploiting the early seam movement on offer at Edgbaston, before Jofra Archer bloodied Alex Carey’s jaw with a vicious bumper.
Continue reading...All Blacks coach criticised for saying domestic violence ‘not a gender thing’
Steve Hansen made the comments after naming Sevu Reece, who admitted to assaulting his partner, to the side
The All Blacks head coach has been called out for saying that domestic violence is not a gendered issue after he named a player who pleaded guilty to assaulting his partner in his side.
Steve Hansen, a former police constable, made the comments after putting Canterbury Crusaders winger Sevu Reece in the latest All Blacks’ squad.
Continue reading...USA v Netherlands: Women’s World Cup final – live!
- Hope Solo: players can’t kid themselves the final is a normal game
- Email Beau with your thoughts or tweet @duresport
25 min: A cross from Dunn to Mewis gives van Veenendaal a difficult catch as she’s backtracking.
Neil Truby asks what it means to say, as I did earlier, that Mewis responds with a takedown. Basically, a wrestling move. But I should clarify that a few seconds had elapsed after Rapinoe cried foul.
22 min: Now the USA look more deliberate, passing around at the back.
Hubert O’Hearn with an interesting point: “What I’m going to suggest is by no means insulting, but this feels more like an FA Cup than a World Cup. You know, some hulking monster of a Man City, or Chelsea in their pomp, facing the gutsy team from mid-table or the Championship that went on a magical run. It’s actually rather charming – can’t remember the last time a World Cup Final felt so Favourite v. Underdog.”
Continue reading...Sweden beat England to Women’s World Cup bronze with help from VAR
Rotherham in November does not have too much in common with Nice in the searing 30C heat of a June evening but there was a definite sense of deja vu on the Côte d’Azur on Saturday night.
Phil Neville readily admits that one of his toughest moments as England coach came in South Yorkshire late last year where a soul-crushing 2-0 defeat inflicted by Peter Gerhardsson’s side “ruined” his Christmas.
Continue reading...Africa Cup of Nations: Benin shock Morocco to set up Senegal clash
- Outsiders win 4-1 on penalties after 1-1 draw
- Sadio Mané gets Senegal winner against Uganda
Benin have delivered one of the biggest upsets in Africa Cup of Nations history, eliminating much-fancied Morocco on penalties after Hakim Ziyech missed a late spot-kick in Cairo.
The Squirrels prevailed 4-1 in the shootout after Sofiane Boufal sent his penalty over the bar, and Benin keeper Saturnin Allagbé tipped Youssef En-Nesyri’s effort onto the woodwork. Midfielder Mama Séïbou then stepped up to score the decisive spot-kick.
Continue reading...Love all: how Megan Rapinoe and other gay players are taking sport to a higher level
In the past, queer female athletes all too often had to hide their sexuality. Today, they’re proudly coming out – and challenging bigotry in sport and society as a whole
Women in sport still face a lot of stigma and abuse. One reason for this is the stigma and abuse that women face in general, but added to that is the fact that women in sport are often pegged as lesbians. You’d like to think that women kicking a ball, swinging a bat or hitting a target wouldn’t be so political – yet here we are, still trapped in the patriarchy’s locker room, engulfed in Lynx Africa fumes.
Recently, however, queer female athletes have proudly come to the fore. This week, Belgian tennis players Alison van Uytvanck and Greet Minnen became the first IRL couple to team up at Wimbledon, and called for more support in the sport for same-sex couples – in particular, saying it would help male players to come out.
Continue reading...Alex Morgan’s World Cup tea celebration against England causes a stir
- USA striker continues string of provocative celebrations
- Celebration comes during USA’s World Cup semi-final victory
US goal celebrations were a talking point yet again during Tuesday’s World Cup semi-final against England. After Alex Morgan scored USA’s second goal of the game, she raised her fingers to her lips, miming a sip of tea.
Alex Morgan sippin tea #USAvENG pic.twitter.com/oyiyeaFzKQ
Continue reading...Cori Gauff, 15, eclipses Venus Williams in Wimbledon first round
• American youngster wins 6-4, 6-4 on Court One
• Glimpse of future as five-time SW19 champion beaten
The 15-year-old American Cori Gauff produced one of the biggest opening-day upsets in Wimbledon history on Monday as she upended five-times champion Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4 in the first round.
The teenager, the youngest player ever to qualify for the main draw, played brilliantly throughout and kept her nerve as she ousted the 39-year-old on Court No 1 in what was her debut performance in a grand slam event.
Continue reading...Dubai’s ruler battles wife in UK court after she fled emirate
British government alleged to have been lobbied for return of Princess Haya
A legal battle between two of the most prominent Middle Eastern royals has been launched in the London courts amid claims that the UK government has been lobbied over the case.
Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan, and her husband, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, are understood to have parted. They are now engaged in a formal dispute in the high court. The case began after she fled Dubai and is due to resume later this month.
Continue reading...‘You can’t win without gay players,’ says USA’s World Cup hero Megan Rapinoe
• Coach Jill Ellis is unconcerned at Rapinoe speaking out
• France’s Corrine Diacre will not quit after 2-1 defeat
Megan Rapinoe showed no sign of stemming her outspoken ways after scoring the goals that saw USA march one step closer towards the World Cup final.
“Go gays!” she said after the 2-1 quarter-final victory over France in Paris and when asked to comment on whether it being Pride month made her contribution more personally significant. “You can’t win a championship without gays on your team - it’s never been done before, ever. That’s science, right there!
Continue reading...Megan Rapinoe double sends USA past France and into England semi-final
It was fitting that the social justice activist Megan Rapinoe, the focus of unwanted presidential attentions before the game for her “I’m not going to the fucking White House” comment, was the player to power the USA into a semi-final with England, her two goals emphatically ending France’s hopes of a men’s and women’s World Cup double.
“Le Grand Match” was a slightly more measured billing from Fifa than Rapinoe’s hopes of a “total shit-show circus” but either way this meeting between the holders and the hosts did not disappoint. Rapinoe is more than a mouthpiece, she is, in the words of her teammate Kelley O’Hara, “a baller”. No player has been directly involved in more goals in the World Cup than Rapinoe since she made her debut in the competition in 2011 and, although Wendie Renard’s header launched a spirited late fightback, Les Bleues were not able to find the equaliser in an end-to-end spectacle.
Continue reading...Wimbledon ditches plastic racket covers in sustainability drive
All England Lawn Tennis Club move means there will be 4,500 fewer plastic bags this year
It might not quite be a Wimbledon tradition along the lines of the all-white dress code but the sight of players’ discarding the plastic cover from a freshly strung racket is a familiar one at SW19.
However, it will not be seen at this year’s championships, which begin on Monday – or in future Wimbledon tournaments – after a review of use of plastics, and sustainability generally, by the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC).
Continue reading...Israel Folau: Australian Christian lobby hosts new fundraising effort
ACL steps in after GoFundMe pulls plug on former Wallabies star’s online appeal
The Australian Christian Lobby is hosting a fundraising effort on its website for the former Wallabies star Israel Folau after his GoFundMe page was shut down.
As at 7am Tuesday, almost $50,000 had been donated via the link on the ACL site, with the group also committing to tip in $100,000 to Folau’s legal challenge. By 8.30am, $250,000 had been raised.
Continue reading...Africa Cup of Nations needs action on field to provide good news | Nick Ames
The best players have made it to Egypt and some new names should make the tournament tight and competitive
The blue and orange seats of Cairo International Stadium make an attractive spectacle and the playing surface, at least when set against the ferocious heat, looks verdant. Every tournament eve brings its flutter of anticipation; that moment when reservations take a back seat and the simple joy of a month’s football takes root. It applies to the Africa Cup of Nations as much as any other major event: one glance at the list of names involved suggests that, if everybody is close to their best, a competition that looks impossible to call will be genuinely thrilling.
When Egypt are roared on to the pitch for Friday’s opener against Zimbabwe, the organisers’ sense of escapism may be even more profound. A Cup of Nations that will have few serious rivals in the global calendar for casual fans’ attention during its latter stages presents an open goal for reviving a profile that has flagged in recent years, but the buildup could hardly have been more chaotic. The Confederation of African Football is effectively on life support and, where the broader health of the continent’s football is concerned, four weeks of sparkling action may do little more than distract from the deeper clean required elsewhere.
Continue reading...‘At least she’s not on Fortnite’: how soccer unites Melbourne’s kids
The Illustrated City: In a multicultural city, soccer gives children like my daughter a common ground
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